Method of and means for removing bast from bast plants



A. E. DODD March 2, 1937.

METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR REMOVING BAST FROM BAST PLANTS 2 Sheets-Sheet l jazp'azfaz' Filed June 26, 1934 I6 fllfi fz" 'zzeszjadci 'Fzgia' Ma ch 2, 1937. A. E. DODD 2,072,734

METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR REMOVING BAST FROM BAST PLANTS Filed June 26, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Iii? g I flzzzjfzyzaaljadd AZZaz-zz 63/ Z12 ve-zzZor Patented Mar. 2, 1937 STATES PATENT OFFICE Albert Ernest Dodd, Dromara, Northern Ireland Application June 26, 1934, Serial No. 732,527 In Great Britain June 27, 1933 1 Claim. (01. 19-32) This invention relates to a machine for removing or separating bast from bast fibres and particularly for removing the woody matter from flax, and of the kind comprising vertically reciprocable holders for the flax or other fibres whereby the same is lowered and raised between successive treating devices. An object of the invention being to provide an improved machine giving an improved output.

A further object is to provide a machine capable of dealing with retted or unretted flax and which is capable of removing the seed, decorticating or scutching and semi-hackling the flax.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to a machine for treating flax but it will be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to flax but may be applied to analogous plants.

Referring to the accompanying drawings in which the same numerals denote the same parts throughout.

Fig. 1 is a simplified end view of a vertical band hackling machine wherein the usual hackling bands are replaced by roller units for removing 5 woody matter in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of the flax treating units.

Fig. 3 is a part end view of a roller unit to a larger scale.

30 Referring to the drawings in which the same numerals denote the same parts throughout, the numerals l, 2, and 3 denote a train of reduction gears driving a large plate wheel 4 on the back face of which is a heart-shaped cam track 5 en- 5 gaged by a runner 6 mounted on an oscillating member 8 pivoted at 9 which is oscillated by rotation of the wheel 4 and which is connected by rod Ill having an adjusting turnbuckle I l to chain I3 connected to a sprocket l2. On the same shaft 40 as the sprocket l 2 is a pulley l4 engaging a strap l5 connected at one end to a balance weight 16 working in a guide 1 and at the other to a channel member ll engaging vertical guides I8. The flax holders I9 are carried by said member and are stepwise movable in a lateral direction therein in well known manner.

A toothed sector 20 is connected to the member 8 and engages gears 2|, 22 driving a chain 23.

50 So far as described the apparatus is similar to the usual vertical band hackling machine, the holders l9 being raised and lowered by the cam track 5 through the connecting rod l0, pulley I 4, strap l5 and associated mechanism and being 55 moved laterally in steps between each raising and lowering movement in order to pass the flax through the various roller units.

A plurality of laterally spaced units for removing the woody matter are provided. As shown in Fig. 1 each unit comprises a vertical 5 series of roller pairs 24, 24 five pairs being shown.

It will be understood, however, that this number may be varied as desired. The rollers 24 at the right hand side of Fig. l are provided with pinions engaged by intermediate idler pinions 26, 10 one of which, 26 is driven from a pinion on the sprocket wheel 25. The rollers 24**, however, are not positively driven but are driven by frictional and intermeshing engagement with the rollers 24 through the intermediary of the flax as it passes 15 between the roller pairs.

The rollers are provided with longitudinal teeth 27, that is, are fluted, which may be arranged to intermesh to the desired degree by adjusting the rollers. As will be more clearly seen from Fig. 20 3 the rollers 24 are mounted in brass bushes 28 slidably mounted on forked brackets 29 having a recess accommodating a spring 3| which keeps the roller 24 resiliently in engagement with the flax and allows the roller to move and automatically adjust the spaces between the flutes thereof and those of roller 24 in accordance with the thickness of the flax piece. Thus the resilient mounting prevents the flax being damaged by the rollers. The rollers 24 are adjustable, each being 30 mounted in a bearing 32 in a bracket 32*- supported on a bracket 33 attached to the frame 34.

A screwed pin 31 is attached to bracket 32 which together with the roller 24 can be laterally adjusted by means of the lock nuts 38.

Referring to Fig. 2, there are three sets of vertical series of rollers 24, 24 in accordance with my invention, namely, A, B, and C. At A, four vertically arranged roller pairs are provided for dealing with three flax holders simultaneously while at B and C the rollers respectively deal with six and three holders. At D five vertical pairs of toothed polishing rollers 35 are provided. The polishing rollers may be arranged to rotate at higher speed than the preceding rollers and may be arranged to rotate merely in the one direction, that is, with the engaging teeth going down. The rollers 35, as shown, can deal with two holders. At E a pair of hackling sheets 36 capable of dealing with three holders, are provided for partially hackling the flax. Proceeding from A to D the flutes on the rollers are of decreasing pitch or depth.

The operation is as follows:

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the flax one series of rollers the piece or bunch is moved laterally one step, and is passed down and up the next part or tool of the roller. 7

The roller teeth impart a bending, friction and tension action to the straw, causing same to assume a sinuous shape, and this crimping effect, since the speed of the holders is the same as the peripheral speed of the rollers, naturally causes tension in the flax between the holders and the V rollers during the downward movement. A further tension is caused in the flax between suc cessive roller pairs due to the increased bedding effect of the flax, that is, as the flax becomes softer it fits more readily into the interrneshing flutes and increases the crimping effect and bands is preferably provided for treating the retherefore the tension. Thus the woody matter is effectively removed. After a piece or bunch has been sufficiently treated it is reversed in the holders so that the then lower end will be subjected to the action of all the rollers, it being obvious that the holder cannot pass through the rollers and that the upper parts of the piece will not be subjected to the action of all the roller pairs. A second series of roller and hackling versed pieces or bunches.

Means other than a chain drive may be provided for driving the rollers 24 and means may be provided for changing the roller speeds.

To increase the bending and friction action the vertical series of rollers may be staggered and/ or one roller of a pair may be arranged higher than the other and the rollers may be provided with a suitable friction surface or surface material.

As shown diagrammatically in Fig. 2 all the rollers are mounted on a continuous shaft but it will be understood that it is preferred to have each set of rollers independently adjustable. This may be provided for by providing an Oldhams coupling on the shaft between set A-B, B-C, CD, DE (Fig. 2).

I claim:-

A machine for obtaining fibres from the stalks of flax, comprising in combination, vertically reciprocable and laterally movable holders for the flax, a cam for raising and lowering said holders, a plurality of laterally spaced removing units, each comprising a pair of rollers having interacting but spaced projections or flutes between which the flax is permitted to move lengthwise by the movement of said holder, a spring-urged mounting for one roller of each pair, means for adjusting the spring, an adjustable mounting for the other roller and a driving connection between said rollers and cam whereby the rollers are driven with a peripheral speed approximately the same as the speed ofthe holders and simultaneously in the same direction, the flax being reciprocated through the rollers and subjected to a bending andrubbing action and laterally moved from one unit to the next, each succeeding unit having finer projections or flutes than the preceding unit, a polishing unit comprising at least one pair of rollers having projections or flutes and driven in the one direction with the inner sides of the rollers going down at a higher speed than the speed of the flax and a hackling unit comprising at least one pair of hackling bands for partially hackling the flax.

ALBERT ERNEST DODD. 

